52 Pickup (1986)

Elmore Leonard’s clever screenplay and John Frankenheimer’s staccato direction work effectively to bring about this chilling crime drama with colourful heroes and villains.

Roy Scheider plays Harry Mitchell, a businessman who appears to have it all – an expensive car, a luxurious home and a wife who is running for city council (Ann-Margret) – until he has an affair with an exotic dancer (Kelly Preston) and is blackmailed by three small-time thugs who threaten to expose his affair if their financial demands are not met.

This dark melodrama is propelled by the way he deals with the terrible predicament which threatens his marriage as he turns the tables on the creeps and takes control of the situation – until the bad guys go after his wife.

The conflict is played out brutally, with virtually the entire cast getting shot, raped, or blown up.